Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-09-09
The Nicaragua Canal.

/
year 1870, Il moderate-sized steamer. draw
ing 10 feet of water left this port Follow
ing that steamer ON her southern voyage we
would have found her, within month an
chOrcd in an inland sea within miles of
the Pacific Ocean. y sailor going alon upon
the mast of that steamer would at the
height of Al feet have been above the sum
init of the divide between the vessel and the
Pacific and might have seen vessel at an
Choir in the Bcto roadstead. Gentlemen of
the association, does not that bring home to
you the feasibility of cutting through that
low barrier or deepening the outlet to the
eastward so that the fleets of the world may
no longer be buffeted by the winds of Cape
Horn and the tenipests of Australia lati
tubes.
! have been on t1at steamers deck at
that very spot. Several years afterward |
was for 10 days, out of sight of all land,
trying to reach New York from San Fran
cisco. Not day passed but / said to my
self, how weak is the power Of tho 18th cen
fury if it cannot, in the interests of com
mercc in the name of humanity, in the
cause of universal advancement, solve the
secret of the strait at Ncarauga
Imagining ourselves once more on +he
steamers deck, there would be within Il dis
westward, one of the richest countries in
the globe. Three miles from the lake are
the indigo plantations of Rivas; the pilas
or dams for soaking the plant, built of the
lime with which the locality abounds, the
concrete is as smooth as porcelain, as hard
as marble and as cold as the Spanish con
quest Further on are the cocoa planta-
tions, as valuable as they are beautiful:
while here and there in the vicinity of the
towns are the sugar haciendas and the cof-
fee lands, interspersed with farms devoted to
the culture of the plantlin, the bananas
and the orange.
Turning from the shore and steaming out
into the open water. the great lake impress
Scs us with the magnificence of its proper
tions. Anchorng under the lee of Ometepec
That island towers a perfect cone, for 300
feet above the vessel its base clothed with
perennial verdure. its summit hidden in
| he dark drifts of the Eastern trade winds
But scenery is not a necessary junct to
| a canal. Let US therefore see what are the
| practca benefits accruing from TN lake 1t
| is first to be noted that the Central Aneri-
| can CordllaraS exist in one unbrokcn chain
the ntire length If the lstgmus, but at one
point and that point near Rivas they sink
| to one of the lowest elevation ON the
American continent becoming simply hills
| which skirt the Pacific shore But as the
mountains lose their altitude, the valleys
to the eastward gain in Depth forming a
paSIn li'Io Whlch the mountalohhs oil costa
hica ana Nicaragua pour the vast amount
Vi water urain from thelr lofty sides.
ms pasiil Is known as the Lake oil MICA
raSu' pr "I"I''.li' u covers an area Ioo
t ,nn iVhS ny ~ proa'i Is Ill Pl'tces over
wv lathoi'is ueep' contains a channel from
US eastern 10 us western extremity capa-
oie VI Ho"lihS uhe larSeSI ahll'' Is only lVV
lec' ABOVE 'le ocean ana by reason OF It's
magnitude Is SuoJecV 10 none Oh lhose ex-
IRENE chailSeS OF leVel 50 common IN au
n,i''u poules OIL water situated III the
lloIIcH'
rltShelS never occur either III the lake or
III tie san 'oaii lor the flrst % miles OF Its
course 1T Is the only river OF the tropics
n"u uoJcct 10 SUDDEN rising. Flowing
throuSl narrow valley the greater part OF
'iie Instance WIN an average dcpth to-day
VI lceu uurllS the laN' iNfo miles, with no
i',rIG streams s"elnnS It's currents a dam
v, - ieet Is perfectly practlcahle at san
O"'!oS' lhls oulit we nave continuous lake
nav 'Satioh Tor l0ov miles; leaving only 40
nilicS ol actual canal emphasize tins
Poi'iu DIS one Oh the objections raised AGAINST
NlV"i"u9a Is the length OF the route. Every
s sea man VIII acknowledge that ne
'' 'ilieS Vi sinooth' lreSh water navigation
WouIu DE preleraDle to the Gut OF Mexico
hoI uAcIs ana tropcal Gains obtaining
hoith ana south OF NlarauGa, beyond the
Uuue "lilu oeIt' commanders OF IRON yes
HelS alSo know what advantage there Will be
III rI''ulhS thelr ShlpS from barnacles.
| mere 'ieh' we nave reservoir capable
Vi SUPP ~ IhS uniform ana lheAhauStlble
a'louh. OF water, the guages OF the San
Juan showing HOW OF over 9O0,ooo,ooo
cu"ic lee' per DAY over ana above these
auNailaEeS there Is another OF great lmpor-
lance Inc iake divides the canal INTO two
"''''iic' Sectloh'' ana consequently eliminate
any "an9er from plock' vessels beng
iocNe.' "lrc.Iy up 10 tle Htke where they can
i'n' I quietly at an'hor' IN lre3h water
p"",'liS ul'u', the Zee ol numerous Islands
win the products OF the country, repairing
any u''lllaEeH WIN TIMBER OF the best quail
~ OF ProNlSlhihE Tor the coming ocean
voyage me lake IS then the great port
Ia